Palghat Mani Iyer's great grand daughter presents Mikeless Kutcheri

It was close to 7am in the morning. The Flowers had been well laid out at the Chess Square of the Nageswara Rao Park. The organisers had arrived at 630am to set up the stage and were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the artistes. The regulars for the Sunday Kutcheri too had taken their seats around the Chess Square. 14 year old S Sowmya, a student of PSBB KK Nagar finally arrived just before 7am along with the accompanists.

For the next one hour, she presented a lively carnatic music performance in front of a big informal audience. Sowmya who is learning music from Guru Vidwan Sri Palghat T R Raja Ram was accompanied on the Violin by Thirucherai Karthik (Guru Sri V L Kumar) and on the Mridangam by Guru Ragavendar (Guru Kalaimamani (late) Thinniyam Sri Y. Krishnan). Soumya presented compositions that included Thayagrajar’s Guru Lekha Etuvanti (Gowri Manohari) and Akshaya Linga Vibo (Shankarabharanam) and Thiruvarur Ramasami Pillai’s Ekkalathilum (Poorvi Kalyani). Sowmya is the great granddaughter of Mridangam Vidwan Palghat Mani Iyer. TT Srinivasaraghavan, MD, Sundaram Finance Ltd., presented certificates and mementos to the artistes.

The idea behind the Sunday Kutcheri in the Park organised on the first Sunday of every month is to promote young musical talent aged below 15 years and to provide a launch pad for them. The focus has been on developing this as a platform for young ‘unsung’ children. No mikes and speakers are used at the Sunday Kutcheri. Over 900 children have presented Kutcheri in the Park since its launch in February 2006. Sundaram Finance conducts audition to select the artistes for the monthly kutcheri. To register for the audition: email sundaykutcheri@sundaramfinance.in